How much should you tip the airplane pilot?

Your ride to the airport: You may be in a hurry, but don’t forget to tip the hotel or parking lot shuttle driver. Standard tips are $1-$2 per bag or per person, but it’s a nice gesture to add a few dollars more if your bags are especially heavy and the driver is especially helpful. An acceptable tip for the taxi or limousine driver who takes you to or from the airport is 10-15 percent of the fare.

Curbside baggage check-in: Most airlines do not (yet) charge passengers a fee for checking bags inside the terminal at a ticket counter or at a self-service kiosk. However, at many airports these days you’ll discover that a few airlines, such as Alaska, United and American, have begun charging $2 per bag for curbside check-in.

If you do use this convenient service, it’s important to remember that the $2 per bag fee goes to the airline and/or the contracted service company. The fee is not a gratuity for the person checking your bag. So, if you want to give the skycap the going-rate tip of $1-$3 a bag, you’ll need to make a point of doing so.

A $2-$3 per bag gratuity is also customary when you return form your trip and enlist the assistance of a skycap to retrieve your luggage off the baggage claim carousel and haul it out to the curb and into a taxi or other vehicle.

Wheelchair service:  If you or a family member requires the services of an airport wheelchair attendant to get to or between gates and/or onto or off of an airplane, it’s customary to give that person a $3-$5 tip or more depending on how long that person stays with you and how much assistance they provide.

Electric cart driver:  If you hitch a ride on an airport’s electric cart and the driver delivers you — timely and safely — to your destination, a $2-$3 tip would be appropriate.  After all, it’s a special skill maneuvering a vehicle through concourses crowded with pedestrians who may be talking on a cell phone, eating a sandwich, rushing to a gate, or simply zoned out. Feel free to tip more, of course, if you’ve thoroughly enjoyed what sometimes turns out to be a wild rolling race down a concourse.

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Food on the fly: Now what about the folks who work in the restaurants, bars, coffee shops and fast-food outlets at the airport?  The rules in the “outside” world apply here as well: tips should be 15-20 percent of the pre-tax bill in a table-service restaurant and $1-$2 for each drink you throw back at a bar.

And don’t forget to throw something into the tip jar when you order a meal packed to go. When you’re racing to catch a flight, it’s the hardworking, often low-paid folks at the grab-n-go counters who make it possible for you to just grab-n-go.

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